Bradley Manning, the army private now standing before charges in the Wikileaks security breach, took the stand today in his pretrial hearing to discuss his confinement in both Kuwait and Quantico, Virginia — and the conditions were even more disturbing than what we learned earlier this week. Claustrophobes, you've been warned.

"Pleased" is sort of the key word here. "[H]e [Manning] was locked up alone in a small cell for nearly nine months at a brig in Quantico, Va., and had to sleep naked for several nights," reported the AP. The court was treated to an actual drawing of Manning's tiny cell, reports The Guardian's Ed Pilkington, adding this detail about how Manning got a glimpse of the outside world:

BRADLEY MANNING: 'You could see the reflection of the reflection of the skylight if you angled your face on the cell door' - Quantico

"Earlier Thursday, a military judge accepted the terms under which Manning would plead guilty to eight charges for sending classified documents to the WikiLeaks website," reported the AP, which notes that this is different than actually accepting the plea. Accepting the actual plea might happen in December and could land Manning 16 years in jail as opposed to the the maximum life sentence he could face. "Manning's lawyers are arguing that the charges against the soldier should be dismissed because of how he was treated while confined at Quantico," the AP reported.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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